Deals of the Day: Goldman Awards Insiders Stock Ahead of Tax Rise

Deals of the Day compiles this morning’s biggest news about mergers and acquisitions, banking, bankruptcy and more. Catch us on Twitter, @WSJDealJournal.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Hormel to Buy Unilever 's Skippy:Hormel Foods agreed to buy Unilever’s Skippy peanut-butter brand for about $700 million as it looks to expand beyond its meat business that includes Spam. [WSJ]

Al-Jazeera to Buy Current TV: Al-Jazeera, the news network owned by the government of Qatar, is buying Current TV, the struggling current-affairs channel co-founded by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. [WSJ]

Zipcar 's Venture Capitalists Clung to a Vision: Venture-capital investors in car-sharing service Zipcar will likely make a profit from Avis Budget Group 's about $500 million buyout. But the returns are hardly what these firms hoped for when they invested years ago. [WSJ]

Zipcar — Great Business Model, Poor Business: Zipcar’s proposed $500 million sale to Avis Budget would appear to represent an entrepreneurial high point. But that is far from the case: A sale at $12.25 a share is less than half what investors were paying immediately after the car-sharing service’s IPO. [WSJ]

Avis Puts Zip in Its Weekend: Zipcar may call its business “car-sharing,” but really it is just another car-rental outfit. And that is why it should fit nicely with Avis Budget Group. [Heard on the Street]

Quiksilver CEO to Step Down: The co-founder of Quiksilver Inc. will step down this month as CEO, as the surfing outfitter makes its first change at the top in more than two decades. [WSJ]

Financial Institutions

Goldman Awards Insiders Stock Ahead of Tax Rise:Goldman Sachs handed insiders including CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his top lieutenants a total of $65 million in restricted stock just hours before this year’s higher tax rates took effect. [WSJ]

Legal & Regulatory

Insurer Sues Paulson Firm: ACA Financial Guaranty alleges that the firm, in concert with Goldman Sachs, induced it to insure a mortgage-linked investment that soured. [WSJ]

Buyside

Pershing to Limit GGP Stake: Pershing Square agreed to sell $271.9 million in General Growth warrants to Brookfield, as part of a deal between the mall owner’s two biggest shareholders that would resolve their recent disputes and see Pershing become a passive shareholder. [WSJ]

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About Deal Journal

Deal Journal is an up-to-the-minute take on the deals and deal makers that shape the landscape of Wall Street, including mergers and acquisitions, capital-raising, private equity and bankruptcy. In short, wherever money changes hands. Deal Journal is updated throughout each trading day with exclusive commentary, analysis, data, news flashes and profiles. The Wall Street Journal’s David Benoit is the lead writer, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Send news items, comments and questions to deals@wsj.com.